US President Donald Trump on Friday declared that “Cuba is next” while highlighting what he described as American military gains in the conflict with Iran, while speaking at a Saudi-backed business forum in Miami.
Linking his Iran policy to broader strategic and economic goals, Trump signalled that Havana could face increased pressure or potential action from Washington.
“And Cuba is next, by the way,” he said, without elaborating on what steps the United States might take as Cuba us facing severe economic crisis.
Trump has recently signalled increased pressure on Havana following US actions in Venezuela and the ongoing Iran conflict, though he has provided few details on any potential plan.
He is seeking to push Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel toward an agreement with Washington, but the contours of such a deal remain unclear.
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative, Trump focused largely on the benefits of US action on Iran and developments in the Middle East while also criticising the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for what he described as a lack of support for Washington’s campaign against Tehran.
“For 47 years Iran has been known as the bully of the Middle East, but they’re not the bully any longer.
They’re on the run,” Trump told the gathering, where his remarks drew light applause.
He reiterated that without US military action, Iran would have developed a nuclear weapon “within two to four weeks,” despite maintaining that earlier strikes had already set back Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“They would have used it on you, and on Israel, and on everyone else,” he told Saudi attendees as he was appearing to convince them the urgency of the operation.
Trump also suggested that Saudi leaders had underestimated him ahead of his second term.
“A short time ago we were together and he looked at me and he said, you know it’s amazing , one year ago you were a dead country, now you’re the hottest country in the world. He didn’t think this was going to happen,” he said, referring to private meetings with Saudi leadership.
In a shift in tone, he took a swipe at the kingdom’s leadership.
Trump also used the address to project confidence in the US economy despite market volatility linked to the conflict.
“Our economy is booming again,” he said.
“When this war ends, it’s gonna be like a rocket ship. I thought we were gonna go down more and I thought oil prices were gonna go up higher than they are. It’s not finished yet. It’s sort of finished, but it’s not finished.”
